Shrouded Secrets
by Zero'sLittleVampire
Summary: Everyone was giving up hope, losing all confidence in themselves... Until a new army arrives. Eren must confront his past as the leader of the army, Anna, triggers old memories. With this new army comes mind-blowing secrets that could either make or break the cadets. What is this dire secret? The heat is on to find out...
1. A New Army

It had been hell. Five years of Titans was plenty enough for Eren. He couldn't handle any more pain and tragedy; he'd already lost almost everything. The only thing he had close to family was Mikasa, but even she couldn't fill the hole that tore through his heart. Slaying Titans was the only thing he could do. There was no way to bring his mother back, and he hardly doubted that his father would reappear anytime soon. Watching people die around every corner was getting more and more tragic with each hour that passed by. Eren just wanted it all to stop. He wanted everything to go back to the way things used to be, BEFORE the Titans. Even then, he'd still be stuck inside the walls. He had always wondered, though, what lie beyond them. He had heard many rumors, and some of them sounded silly, but most of them sounded amazing. He wanted to go outside for himself, but until the Titans disappeared, it was impossible.

Eren sat alone in the training camp. Normally he would be accompanied by Mikasa or Armin, but the two of them were nowhere to be seen. He was slightly puzzled; they hardly went anywhere without him. Confusion only caused him to sit and think about everything that had been going on. He ran his fingers through his hair, slightly aggravated with himself. He shouldn't have let the two escape from his sight. Who knows where they were; they could have been killed by Titans. He didn't want to think about it too much, since he knew Mikasa was a strong young woman. She could slay Titans like nobody's business.

But something else quickly caught his attention. It was Jean, running straight towards him, eyes slightly wide. Immediately, Eren assumed the Titans were attacking, and he shot up and held his hands to his 3D maneuvering gear. Jean held his hands up.

"Stop, Eren!" he yelled, coming to a stop as soon as he stood in front of him. He was panting rather hard, having probably run a long way. He gulped before continuing. "There's something you have to see!"

Eren stared at Jean, a scowl appearing on his face. "What the hell?! If that's all you wanted to say, then you shouldn't have been running like that! You scared the hell out of me!" He rested his hands to his sides. "I thought the Titans were attacking again."

Jean shook his head. "No, but this is something that requires your immediate attention." He waved his arm in a beckoning manner. "Come on!" He then quickly began dashing towards where he had appeared.

All that was running through Eren's mind was what could be more important than killing the Titans? He didn't want to question Jean, though. If he was so dedicated on making sure he informed Eren on this "something that required his immediate attention", then it must have been important. Maybe one of the higher-ups had told Jean to scout him out and let him know on the situation. Eren shook his head and sighed, and began following after the hot-shot.

He was surprised at how far they were going. Deeper and deeper they went into the town. They were inside of Wall Sheena, where everyone was on edge. The Titans were already in Wall Rose and Maria, and who knew how long it would take for them to enter Wall Sheena. Eren shuddered at the thought of the armored Titan breaking through the wall, just like it had with Wall Rose. It was a horrifying experience that everyone hoped wouldn't happen again.

"Eren, we're here," Jean said, interrupting Eren's thoughts. Eren looked around and noticed Erwin talking with a young man with dark brown hair. He was unfamiliar to Eren; he had never seen him before anywhere. Then, as he looked further into the distance, his mouth gaped open. What he saw left him astonished. There were tens, maybe even hundreds, of unfamiliar soldiers that stood in a cluster. All of them appeared to be male, until he spotted a short, blonde-haired female at the front of the group. She looked awfully familiar to Eren, but he brought his attention back to where Erwin was.

Erwin then noticed Eren and looked towards him. "Eren, I need a favor from you." He looked towards the young man that stood next to him.

He glanced over at Eren. "Sorry for dragging you out of your post," he said firmly, his voice rather low-slung.

Eren held his hands up. "I wasn't really on duty. It's not a problem." He crossed his arms. "I hope you don't find this offensive, but where the hell did all of you come from?"

The young man let out a chuckle. "I knew you would ask something like that." He ran his fingers through his hair. "We've always been here, spread out amongst the walls and districts. When the Titans attacked, we joined together and became an army once more."

"Army?" Jean exclaimed, looking at the stranger in disbelief. "Who do you think you are?!" Erwin quickly held a hand up to silence the annoyance, but the young man simply laughed.

"Where are my manners? I'm Jackson, one of the leaders of this army." He looked back at the cluster of soldiers. "The other leader is right here." He pointed his hand over in the direction of the young woman. She approached his side and looked straight at Eren.

"My name is Anna," she introduced. "Sorry for appearing all of a sudden, but we want to help all of you."

Eren couldn't help but stare right back at her, something fierce tugging at his heart. He had a gut feeling that he had seen this girl before, but he couldn't put his foot down on it. He crossed his arms and let out a 'hmph'. "What makes you think we need help?"

Anna frowned. "Your death count says plenty."

Jackson let out a low chortle and rubbed the top of Anna's head. "Don't be so mean, sis. We're trying to make a good impression on these guys."

Erwin glanced at Eren. "Eren, I need you to show these soldiers to the training camp. They will be staying there with you and the others."

Eren looked at all of the soldiers that stared at him intently. One of them in particular looked fairly young, maybe thirteen. He raised an eyebrow and glared at Erwin. "How are they all going to fit in the cabins?"

"Look kid, we don't all need to sleep in some moldy cabin," Jackson muttered, clearly heated-up by Eren's constant complaining. "We know what it's like to live without shelter, so we'd be more than happy to sleep outside."

Eren couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sleep outside? That was just ridiculous. He rolled his eyes and let out a low growl. "Fine…" He began leading the troops away. On a normal day, he could be happy to guide them to the camp without complaining, but since he was so worried about Mikasa and Armin, he got heated very easily. He jumped slightly as the small blonde girl approached his side.

"Why so upset?" she asked, keeping her steps even with his.

"I'm not upset," Eren spat. Anna crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Eren noticed this and let out a sigh. He could tell she was rather good at reading facial expressions. "I haven't been able to find my friends all day, and I'm really worried about them…"

Anna's facial expression suddenly changed to sadness. "I see…" she said quietly, holding her head low.

Eren couldn't help but stare at her in confusion. "Why so sad?" he asked. "They aren't your friends."

"I can feel sorry for you, though, can I not?" she pointed out, her voice hard.

Jean piped up from beside Eren. "Eren, get off her case. She has the right to worry too, you know."

Eren glared at Jean, but quickly noticed that he wasn't looking at him, but at Anna. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Jean had fallen head-over-heels for this girl. Eren scowled at the thought of them marrying each other, with their little Jean-faced babies running around the town. What the hell was he thinking? He needed to snap out of this fierce trance.

As they neared the camp, Eren noticed that Anna had stopped in her tracks, and was allowing all the other soldiers to pass her, including her brother. He seemed to be hesitant, but proceeded right past Eren. Eren stopped and turned to look at Anna as the rest of the remaining soldiers entered the camp. "Hey, you alright?" he asked, slightly concerned.

Anna stared at the ground. "I cannot believe you don't even remember me…" she mumbled quietly, attempting to make herself unheard.

Eren approached her until he was standing tall above her. "What'd you say?"

She quickly looked up at him. "Do you seriously not remember me, Eren?"

"No, and I don't know what you're talking about," he grunted.

Anna held back a bitter response and breathed in sharply. "Don't you remember? We were best friends as children."


	2. The Heat

Eren stared at Anna, his eyes wide with confusion. "Wha…" He took a few steps back away from her, holding a hand to his head. "When did I…"

"We were young, maybe five or six…" she said quietly, her voice sounding sad. "We used to have so much fun…" Her gaze traveled to meet his. "When did we ever grow apart?" Tears sprang into the corners of her eyes.

Memories began flooding back into Eren's mind. The time they ran around almost the entire district; the time they both rolled around in the dirt. The time they held hands as they both traveled with their mothers to get some food. He let out a quiet gasp. "A…Anna…" He looked at her, suddenly aware of whom she was. "ANNA!" He ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

Anna smiled. "I've missed you, Eren," she whispered, embracing him caringly. "Ever since I moved away, I've always wondered what you'd been doing…"

"I'm so sorry I didn't remember you earlier…" he mumbled quietly. "I would have been nicer…"

"I understand what it feels like to lose track of your friends, so it's alright," she said softly, her eyes showing signs of happiness. She then softly pulled away from him and smiled brightly. "Come on, we should go catch up to the others," she called as she began running towards the camp.

Eren quickly followed after her, an undeniable smile splayed across his face. He had finally found her, after so many years. He had completely forgotten about her and all the fun they used to have as children. How could he have forgotten something like that? This war must have been frying his brain to a crisp…

As they entered the camp, Eren noticed Armin and Mikasa gazing in wonder at all the incoming soldiers. His eyes quickly widened and he dashed up to them. "Where the hell were you guys?!" he asked, his voice cracking.

Mikasa shrugged her shoulders. "We were patrolling the area to make sure no Titan had snuck inside." Armin nodded his head from beside her.

Eren looked to the side and noticed Anna a few feet away, staring at him intently, apparently waiting for him to introduce her to them. He moved over to her and gently took a hold of her hand, leading her over to his close friends. "Anna, this is Mikasa and Armin," he introduced. He looked towards the two. "Guys, this is Anna. We were best friends as children." Eren couldn't help but stare at Armin questioningly as his cheeks turned a light pink color.

"I-it's nice to meet you, A-Anna…" Armin muttered quietly, his gaze pointed towards the ground rather than Anna's eyes. Mikasa just gave her a simple nod, not giving her any words.

Anna bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet the both of you," she said, standing straight with a smile on her face. She then looked back at Eren. "Well… I really should meet up with Jackson… I'm sure that there are orders that need to be… you know… ordered." She laughed at how silly she was sounding. She turned herself around, and as she began moving, she called out to Eren, "I'll see you around!"

Eren smiled and waved after her. "See ya!" He then turned his attention back to his friends. He had noticed the stares that they were giving Anna; one being flustered and the other being jealous. He eyed them both curiously. "What is with you guys? She's my childhood friend!"

Mikasa crossed her arms. "Stop assuming that something's wrong, Eren. She seems nice."

Armin nodded his head in agreement. "S-she seems like a real good person…" He looked towards the ground once more as he felt his cheeks warming. "And she's really p-pretty…"

Eren shook his head as he began to wonder why his friends were acting like this. It bothered him slightly. He wished they could be nicer… well… Armin _was_ being nice... But a little _too_ nice. It appeared to be that he had a crush on Anna. It boiled Eren's insides to think about it; this was his _best friend_ he was crushin' on.

A tap on the shoulder brought Eren out of his thoughts, and he turned his head to see Jackson towering above him. "Is something wrong?" Eren asked aloud, his voice rather harsh. He still had Armin and Anna on his mind.

"I have to tell you something that I should have informed you about earlier…" Jackson mumbled, glancing to the side with worried eyes. This caught Eren's undivided attention.

"What is it?" he asked sternly, wondering why he hadn't told him earlier.

Jackson scratched the back of his head. "Well… don't freak out when I show you this…"

Eren took a step back as a low rumble could be heard emanating from within Jackson, and in seconds, he grew furry ears and a tail. He was staring at Eren intently, an ear flicking slightly. Eren gulped and took in his full appearance. It was like he hadn't changed at all, except…

The brown ears and tail…

"H-how… wh-what…" Eren mumbled, holding a hand to his head in confusion. He had never seen anything like this; he was confused beyond belief.

"What the hell?" Mikasa muttered from behind Eren. "What's up with the ears and tail?"

Jackson shrugged his shoulders and waved his tail around. "That's something Anna would have to explain to you… I'm bad at explaining things." He looked to where all his soldiers were clustered. "We call ourselves the furries in this form… Couldn't really think of anything else anyways." He smirked at Eren. "We don't normally turn into this form unless we really have to. But when we do…" He began running in circles around the trio at an amazing speed, faster than anything Eren had ever seen. It was like a whirlwind, speeding around and throwing up dust and debris.

"Whoa, whoa, STOP!" Eren shouted as dust began to blur his vision. The dark-haired young man stopped abruptly in front of the cadet, his tail making a sudden jerking movement, like a whip.

"Our speed gives us an advantage against the Titans," he retorted, crossing his arms and twitching an ear. "Even if we're being chased by an Abnormal, we usually are able to get away."

Eren was at a stand-still. He was so shocked that there were people like this, and he wanted to know why… _How._ He moved his attention to behind Jackson, where he could see Anna approaching once more.

She strode to her brother's side and blinked curiously. "So… I guess Jackson told you about our furry form, huh?" As the trio nodded, she let out a sigh. "That means I have to explain more to you." She stood on her tippy-toes and gently brought her fist down onto Jackson's head. "This guy never was good at explaining things…" As Jackson let out a growl, Anna laughed. "Well anyway, it's a long story, so it'll have to wait for now." She held a single finger to her chin and looked towards the clouded sky. "But there is _one_ thing you should know about that may be very vital."

"What would that be?" Eren asked.

Anna shook her body quickly, almost as if she were shaking off a bug, and in seconds her golden ears and tail appeared. As soon as this happened, Jackson covered both his mouth and nose with his hand, letting out low growls. Eren was perplexed. He looked to Anna, hoping to get an answer from her.

"You see… There are some periods of time when I'm in this form in which I'm in heat…" She pointed at her brother. "So if there are other cadets that are in this form the same time I am, and if I'm in heat, they will try to claim me."

"Meaning…?" Eren tilted his head, a strange fear lurking inside the depths of his eyes.

Anna glanced at him with her icy blue eyes, a sign of guilt flashing across her face. "It means that they'll try to have sex with me."

Eren's jaw dropped. This couldn't be true; she was the same age as him! And yet, she was already doing stuff like this?! _I guess it can't be helped, though…_ he thought in the depths of his mind. _When an animal is in heat, they can't control it… Maybe it's the same for her…_

Jackson was still growling, and then grasped onto her shoulder, his breathing heavy. "I'm gonna… check on the others…" he huffed, beginning to stumble away without even waiting for a response. Anna just simply sighed and shook her head.

"Well… I'm sure you hate me even more now, huh?" she asked Eren, looking at him as if waiting for an approval.

Eren just stared at her with shocked eyes. "N-no! Of course I don't hate you! I could never…" He looked to the side and rubbed his arm. "Um… You don't need to act like I'm deciding everything for you…" He then looked up and noticed that a group of males were approaching them fast. With a closer examination, Eren noticed they were furries.

"E-Eren, hide Anna!" Armin cried as Mikasa dragged him behind the nearest building, probably in case the situation were to turn ugly. Eren looked toward Anna, but she simply stood in place, glaring at the mass with narrowed eyes.

"Michael, what do you want?" she growled, her tail lashing around.

The lead furry of the group stopped in front of Anna, sniffing the air and smirking widely. "Oh, you should know what I want, Anna," he snickered, running his fingers through her blonde hair. "You _know_ what happens when you're in heat and _I'm_ around." His black ears folded back and his tail whirled around wildly. "Come on, while that Jackson isn't around."

This Michael fellow was causing Eren to grow furious, and he violently shoved him away from his childhood friend. "Stay the hell away from her!" he spat, protectively holding an arm out in front of Anna. "Touch her again and I'll slay you like a Titan!"

Michael let out a loud chortle and sneered at Eren. "What are you, her body guard?" He grabbed a hold of the collar of Eren's shirt and yanked him upward, lifting him off of the ground. "Because I don't recall her ever having a duckling following her around." The men behind Michael burst into laughter, holding their hands to their stomachs.

Furious, Eren kicked out with his leg, landing a blow on Michael's groin, causing him to shout in anguish as he released his grip on him. He reeled over in pain, while Eren stood over him with a proud expression. Anna was giggling slightly, which caused Michael to look up with an angered look.

"You son of a bitch," he hissed, ready to attack Eren, when suddenly…

"Michael!" came Jackson's voice as he ran up to the cluster. He still remained in his furry form, but seemed more composed than before. His tail was whipping around furiously, and his ears were flattened against his head. "You better stay the hell away from her," he growled, towering above the hunched-over Michael. "You may be older, but I'm far more stronger than you."

Michael grit his teeth and glared over at Anna, whom was staring at him with burning eyes. He snorted and shakily stood up, still holding a hand to his pained area. "This isn't the end," he growled to Jackson, beginning to walk away. He stopped and looked at Eren, giving him a wicked smirk. "And don't act so tough, smart ass. You're gonna end up getting killed." And with that, he led his cluster of soldiers away and back to the sleeping quarters.

Jackson let out a sigh and fixed his hair as he reverted out of his furry form. "Sorry about him… He thinks he can dominate over me." He blinked and looked toward Eren. "Thank you for keeping my sister safe. I owe you one." He smiled before walking away, back to where the other soldiers were waiting for him.

Anna looked to Eren and smiled. "Um… thanks," she said, patting his shoulder. "You didn't have to do that, though. You could have been seriously hurt."

Eren shrugged his shoulders and returned a kind smile. "I guess that's the price I have to pay in order to protect you." He rubbed the top of her head and beckoned for her to follow him. "Now come on. I'm sure there's plenty of things we need to talk about." Anna gave him a quick nod and smiled, following after him. As Eren looked at Anna, he couldn't help but smile to himself.

_I wonder why I ever forgot a face as beautiful as yours…_


End file.
